When they reached the basement, Aya jumped onto the sofa Yoji normally occupied. It felt quite comfortable under his paws and he just knew it was rightfully his. The cushions felt warm and soft and he treaded some more to enjoy the feeling under his flexing toes. The fleeciness caressed his senses and he started to make a low, purring sound in his throat. Yes, this would be the perfect place for a nap. He felt a deep drowsiness rise and closed his eyes just a little bit. Through the half closed lids he saw a greyhound coming downstairs. The dog headed straight for the sofa, but slowed down, when he noticed Aya sitting right in the middle. His ears dropped and he started to wave his tail. So he was up for a fight. Aya knew he was. The dog's body language was telling him so. His own tail tip started to twitch and the purring stopped. This sofa was his and only his. No dog would ever set foot here.

"Aya?," the dog whined. He stepped forward and got rewarded with a hiss and a sharp claw missing his nose only by inches. The dog jumped back and woofed in confusion. Aya closed his eyes to mere slits again and watched closely for any attempts to come near his sofa. If the dog tried anything funny, this meant war. And...

"If you are done fighting over seating accommodations, we might return to the purpose of this meeting."

Aya's eyes snapped open. What did he just do? He looked at the badger, that had crawled upon the chair on the opposite side of the table. Their heads were leveled now and he was sure, that he saw a smirk decorating the black and white face.

"The effects of the transformation get stronger when your basic needs are not met", the badger said. "If you are hungry, thirsty or tired, you become more and more bestial."

Aya shook his head. This transformation really was a serious problem. He felt the influence of his animal side getting stronger and stronger. And he was so tired. He remembered the fact that cats used to sleep almost the entire day. Maybe he would have to adjust to that rhythm as long as he stayed a cat. But now was not the time for a catnap. There was business to do.

"You know who is responsible for this?" Aya asked and stifled a yawn.

"One of our clients got upset when we refused to continue to work for her. Dr. Nakomura is a highly skilled scientist and we suspect that she developed the formula that gave us our new visual nature. Her laboratory is in the east part of the city. This is were the transformation wave seems to have started. And it also appears to be the source of the power field corralling the residents as well as the gas cloud accountable for the metamorphosis."

"So all we have to do is go there and destroy the lab?" Yoji asked. Aya fought the urge to drive him away from the sofa he had finally managed to jump on. It still did not feel right to have anyone near him.

"I doubt that this wold be a good idea," Omi said. "If the gas is set free, the transformation might spread even wider."

"We suspect this as well," Crawford replied and lifted a paw to his face. He paused and frowned before he put the obnoxious limb down again. "In addition to that, we think that we need the laboratory and Dr. Nakomura to reverse the effect of the gas. Although getting her cooperation could pose some difficulties for us. She might be a little reluctant to help Schwarz as we did not excactly part as...friends so to say."

"So blatantly put, this is all your fault. And now you come knocking on our door to clean up your mess." Yoji's face was all smug. "Who would have guessed?"

The bat, Nagi, who was sitting on the head rest of Crawford's chair whispered something. Normally Aya would not have understood a word. But right now his ears and whiskers automatically adjusted themselves so he could hear, what the bat was saying.

"Let's leave, Crawford. Theses degenerated imbeciles won't be of any help. We can fix the problem by ourselves."

The badger shook his head. "There is no need to susurrate, Nagi."

"And it's useless anyway. We heard you, bat boy." Yoji winked at the little animal that glared at him in return.

"Weiß will be needed to return into our human selves. I definitely know that."

Aya remembered some of their past meetings where Crawford had claimed to see the future. So did he have a vision of what was to happen? This was still so hard to believe. It might as well just be a trap. But if it was, it was the worst trap he ever experienced. Apparently Schwarz was not happy about the transformation either. So if they only wanted to achieve their goal, it would have been wiser to stay Human. But they hadn't. Probably because they couldn't. So it really was not wise to trust them, but working together seemed to be the only chance they had. He stifled another yawn. If he did not get any sleep soon, he would just drop of the sofa. To avoid this embarrassment, he stood and stretched.

"Share all your information with Omi and Yoji. I will...investigate something."

"Aya?" Yoji tilted his head. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Aya anything but hissed. "Now do as you're told. I'm off."

He jumped of the sofa and hurried up the stairs. He could feel the stares following him, but being a cat also had its advantages. Disappearing into nowhere did not represent a problem. His instincts led him just to the right place where he would not be found for the next two hours. Or three maybe. They would be able to do without him.

Omi turned his attention from the door Aya just slipped through to the flutter above his head. The bat headed for his office chair in front of the computer. It landed on the back rest and looked at his computer in disgust.

"Don't tell me you work with this piece of junk. It's amazing how you even manage to finish a task before it crashes."

Omi flattened his ears. "Don't let the looks deceive you. It's quite well equipped on the inside."

The bat made a disapproving noise and suddenly the computer came to live. He had not even touched it.

"How...how did you do that?" Omi looked up at the lightened screen in awe.

"Telekinesis," the bat simply stated. "I do not have to touch something to work with it. Quite advantageous when you don't have hands anymore. Now shut up and listen."

Omi sat on his hind legs and stretched his whiskers. He could not sense anything from the bat except for a faint smell. Of course, he had not seen the youngest member of Schwarz fight very often. Usually it was only the other three or even just two of them, who kept Weiß quite occupied. He wondered why, because being able to move objects just by thinking about it sounded like a very powerful ability to him. Why did Schwarz hold back to use this power?

"Are you finished staring?" The bat...Nagi sounded annoyed. The keys of the computer kept typing away while he spoke. A map had appeared on the screen and it seemed, that Nagi was outlining a way to their destination. Another window popped up and showed something that looked like data from a security system. Now that was something Omi could work with.

"Let me see," he said and hopped onto the chair. It spun around on the impact and the bat squeaked as it dug its claws into the material of the back rest.

"Watch out!"

The chair stopped and now it was Omi who fought not to drop down from the seat because of the sudden halt. Luckily he regained his balance quite quickly and managed to stay put. He glared up at the bat that returned his angry stare.

"May I continue?" Nagi asked after a few moments.

"I'd appreciate that."

Both animals turned their heads to the screen and Nagi's monotonous voice describe the details he had found out.

Yoji looked at the two youngsters and snickered. "They seem to get on quite well. I think we can leave them at that task. Don't you agree?"

He looked at the badger that had some-when started licking and nuzzling its gray fur. It was so caught up in the exercise that Yoji had to bark at it/him, to regain Crawford's attention. The short confusion on the black and white face was quickly replaced with the cool composure the leader of Schwarz normally displayed.

"As I said, if basic needs are not met, the bestial side gets stronger."

Yoj nodded in agreement. "I know, what you mean. Personally, I'm torn between the urge to give chase to rabbit Omi and the desperate need for a smoke. As neither of that will happen: Would you like to join me to inspect our fridge? I would not bet on the contents, though."

The badger looked at him. "You know, this is just a business arrangement? We have no interest to befriend you."

"Yeah, yeah. But I am hungry and so are you. So take that stick out of your furry ass and tag along."

Yoji jumped from the sofa and went to the stairs. He turned to see, if the badger came after him. To his surprise, he really did. The sturdy animal passed him by and began to climb the steps one by one. Yoji supposed, the short legs made it kind of difficult to go any faster. He was surprised to see rather larges claws attached to the black paws. They scratched the metal in a way that made Yoji think of shovels. Perhaps badgers were normally into digging? Who knew? He had of course not been surprised that his sense of hearing had improved by far and that he was now able to distinguish between so many different smells. It was like an olfactory orgasm most of the time. He hardly could keep himself from sniffing at every corner. It really was about time to grab a bite.

Music: "I'm too sexy" - Right said Fred